Addressing scheme for a display device with distributed sensors in a display area

ABSTRACT

A display device includes an array of driver circuits distributed in a display area for driving corresponding LED zones and an array of sensor circuits distributed in the display area for sensing conditions associated with the driver circuits or LED zones. Various communication protocols and connectivity configurations may be employed to communicate driver control signals to the driver circuits and to obtain readback data from the sensors. A control circuit adjusts operation of the display device based on sensor data obtained from the sensor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/029,389 filed on May 22, 2020, U.S. Provisional Application No.63/042,548 filed on Jun. 22, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Application No.63/059,737 filed on Jul. 31, 2020, which are each incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to light emitting diodes (LEDs) andLED driver circuitry for a display, and more specifically to a displayarchitecture with distributed driver circuits.

LEDs are used in many electronic display devices, such as televisions,computer monitors, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, projectionsystems, and head-mounted devices. Modern displays include very largenumbers of individual LEDs that may be arranged in rows and columns in adisplay area. In order to drive each LED, current methods employ drivercircuitry that requires significant amounts of external chip area thatimpacts the size of the display device.

SUMMARY

A display device includes a group of light emitting diode zones eachcomprising one or more light emitting diodes, a group of driver circuitsfor driving the group of light emitting diode zones, a group of sensorcircuits distributed in the display area of the display device, and acontrol circuit. The control circuit facilitates assignment of addressesto the group of sensor circuits during an addressing mode. In thisprocess, the control circuit turns on a selected driver circuit to drivea corresponding LED zone and obtains sensor data from the group ofsensor circuits that represents a sensed condition associated with theLED zone. The control circuit determines, based on the sensor data, asensor value associated with a proximate sensor circuit that isproximate to the LED zone turned on by the selected driver circuit. Thecontrol circuit assigns an address to the proximate sensor circuitassociated with an address of the selected driver circuit.

In various embodiments, the sensor circuits may comprise temperaturesensing circuits that detect heat generated by the selected drivercircuit, light sensing circuits that detect light generating by the LEDzone, or audio sensing circuits that detect sound generating by an audiotransducer proximate to the LED zone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the embodiments of the present invention can be readilyunderstood by considering the following detailed description inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of a display device including distributedzone integrated circuits (ICs) that include a mixture of driver circuitsand sensor circuits, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a first example embodiment of a zone IC.

FIG. 1C is a second example embodiment of a zone IC.

FIG. 1D is a third example embodiment of a zone IC.

FIG. 1E is a fourth example embodiment of a zone IC.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a display device including an array ofzone ICs arranged in groups including a mixture of driver circuits and3-pin sensor circuits.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a processfor assigning addresses to sensor circuits in an addressing mode.

FIG. 4A is a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of an LED anddriver circuit that may be utilized in a display device.

FIG. 4B is a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of an LED anddriver circuit that may be utilized in a display device.

FIG. 4C is a cross sectional view of a third embodiment of an LED anddriver circuit that may be utilized in a display device.

FIG. 5 is a top down view of a display device using an LED and drivercircuit, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view of several layers of an LED anddriver circuit for a display device, according to one embodiment.

The features and advantages described in the specification are not allinclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantageswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of thedrawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted thatthe language used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selectedto delineate or circumscribe the inventive aspect matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A display device includes an array of driver circuits distributed in adisplay area for driving corresponding LED zones and an array of sensorcircuits distributed in the display area for sensing conditionsassociated with the driver circuits or LED zones. Various communicationprotocols and connectivity configurations may be employed to communicatedriver control signals to the driver circuits and to obtain readbackdata from the sensors. In an addressing scheme, a control circuitselectively controls a driver circuit to turn on an LED zone and obtainssensor data representing sensed conditions. Based on the sensor data,the control circuit identifies a sensor circuit proximate to the LEDzone that was turned on and assigns an address to the proximate sensorcircuit that is associated with an address of the selected drivercircuit that was turned on. During operation, the control circuitobtains sensor data together with addresses of the sensor circuits, andadjusts operation of the display device based on the sensor data and thediscovered location-based mapping of the driver circuits to the sensorcircuits.

FIG. 1A is a circuit diagram of a display device 100 for displayingimages or video. In various embodiments, the display device 100 may beimplemented in any suitable form-factor, including a display screen fora computer display panel, a television, a mobile device, a billboard,etc. The display device 100 may comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD)device or an LED display device. In an LCD display device, LEDs providewhite light backlighting that passes through liquid crystal colorfilters that control the color of individual pixels of the display. Inan LED display device, LEDs are directly controlled to emit coloredlight corresponding to each pixel of the display.

The display device 100 may include a device array 105 and a controlcircuit 110. The device array 105 comprises an array of zone integratedcircuits (ICs) 120 that may have different configurations, examples ofwhich are illustrated in FIGS. 1B-1E. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, a zoneIC 120 may include an integrated package including an LED zone 140 and adriver circuit 150 that drives the corresponding LED zone 140. Asillustrated in FIG. 1C, a zone IC 120 may comprise a driver circuit 150that couples to an external LED zone 140 in a separate physical package.As illustrated in FIG. 1D, a zone IC 120 may comprise a sensor circuit160 such as a temperature sensor, a light sensor, a voltage sensor, anaudio sensor, or a device that performs a combination of sensingfunctions. As illustrated in FIG. 1E, a zone IC 120 may include anintegrated package that includes an LED zone 140, a driver circuit 150,and a sensor circuit 160. The device array 105 generally includes amixture of at least two different types of zone ICs 120, in which someof the zone ICs 120 include driver circuits 150 and at least some of thezone ICs 120 include sensor circuits 160.

As will be described in further detail below, at least some of the zoneICs 120 in the configurations of FIG. 1B or FIG. 1E may be physicallystructured with LED zones 140 that are stacked over the driver circuits150. In other words, an array of LED zones 140 are arranged in a firstx-y plane and an array of driver circuits 150 are arranged in a secondx-y plane parallel to the first x-y plane in which each LED zone 140 isstacked over (i.e., in the z direction) the corresponding driver circuit150 that drives it. Furthermore, the LED zone 140 and the driver circuit150 of a zone IC 120 may be integrated on the same substrate and in asame package as further described in FIGS. 4-6. This structure enables adisplay device 100 in which the driver circuits 150 are distributed in adisplay area and therefore enables a more compact display device 100than in devices where the driver circuits 150 are external to thedisplay area.

The LEDs of each LED zone 140 may be organic light emitting diodes(OLEDs), inorganic light emitting diodes (ILEDs), mini light emittingdiodes (mini-LEDs) (e.g., having a size range between 100 to 300micrometers), micro light emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) (e.g., having asize of less than 100 micrometers), white light emitting diodes (WLEDs),active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs), transparent OLEDs (TOLEDs), or some othertype of LEDs.

The LED zones 140 may be arranged in a two-dimensional array (e.g., inrows and columns). In an LCD display, the LED zones 140 can have one ormore LEDs that provides backlighting for a backlighting zone, which mayinclude a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of pixels. In an LEDdisplay, the LED zones 140 may comprise one or more LEDs correspondingto a single pixel or may comprise a one-dimensional array ortwo-dimensional array of LEDs corresponding to an array of pixels (e.g.,one or more columns or rows). For example, in one embodiment, the LEDzones 140 may comprise one or more groups of red, green, and blue LEDsthat each correspond to a sub-pixel of a pixel. In another embodiment,the LED zones 140 may comprise one or more groups of red, green, andblue LED strings that correspond to a column or partial column ofsub-pixels or a row or partial row of sub-pixels. For example, an LEDzone 140 may comprise a set of red sub-pixels, a set of greensub-pixels, or a set of blue sub-pixels.

In an embodiment, the driver circuits 150 and sensor circuits 160 maysimilarly be arranged in a two-dimensional array. Zone ICs 120 withdriver circuits 150 are generally distributed throughout in the displayarea to drive corresponding LED zones 140. The sensor circuits 160 mayalso be distributed throughout the device array 105 to sense conditionsrelating to operation of a set of one or more adjacent driver circuits150 as will be described in further detail below. Sensor circuits 160may be positioned, for example, next to each driver circuit 150 or maybe spread out between sets of driver circuits (e.g., one sensor circuit160 in each row).

In other embodiments in which the zone ICs 120 have the configuration ofFIG. 1D (i.e., correspond to sensor circuits 160), the driver circuits150 may be located around the periphery of the display device 100instead of in the display area.

The zone ICs 120 may operate in various modes including at least anaddressing mode, a configuration mode, and an operational mode. Duringthe addressing mode, the control circuit 110 initiates an addressingprocedure to cause assignment of addresses to each of the zone ICs 120.During the configuration and operational modes, the control circuit 110transmits commands and data that may be targeted to specific zone ICs120 based on their addresses. In the configuration mode, the controlcircuit 110 configures driver circuits 150 of the zone ICs 120 with oneor more operating parameters (e.g., overcurrent thresholds, overvoltagethresholds, clock division ratios, and/or slew rate control). During theoperational mode, the control circuit 110 provides control data to thedriver circuits 150 that causes the driver circuits 150 to control therespective driver currents to the LED zones 140, thereby controllingbrightness. For example, in each of a sequence of image frames, thecontrol circuit 110 provides driver control signals to the drivercircuits 150 that control a driving current of the LED zones 140 (e.g.,by controlling a duty cycle and/or current level through one or more LEDstrings). The control circuit 110 may also issue commands to requestreadback data from sensor circuits 160, and the sensor circuits 160provide the sensor data to the control circuit 110 in response to thecommands. The control circuit 110 may adjust driver control signals,supply voltage levels, sensor parameters, or other display parametersdependent on the received feedback data from the sensor circuits 160.For example, the control circuit 110 may calibrate the driver circuits150 based on the sensed data so that LED zones 140 each output the samebrightness in response to the same brightness control signal, despiteprocess variations or other sensed conditions that may otherwise causevariations. The calibration process may be performed by measuring lightoutput, channel voltages, temperature, or other data that may affectperformances of the LEDs. The calibration process may be repeated overtime (e.g., as the display device 100 heats up during operation). Thecontrol circuit 110 may furthermore calibrate sensor circuits 160,adjust supply voltage levels, or adjust parameters associated with thedisplay device 100 based on the readback data.

The zone ICs 120 may be connected to the control circuit 110 in groupsof zone ICs 120 that share common power lines, ground lines, and/orcommunication lines. In different embodiments, different connectivityconfigurations may be employed to couple the control circuit 110 to eachgroup of zone ICs 120. For example, in an embodiment, each group of zoneICs 120 is coupled by a shared parallel communication line that providesthe driver control signals and/or readback commands to zone ICs 120within the group and targets different signals to different zone ICs 120based on their addresses. The shared parallel communication line maycomprise a dedicated communication line or may comprise a powercommunication line that both provides a supply voltage to the zone ICs120 and includes digital data modulated on the supply voltage. The zoneICs 120 may furthermore include serial connections between adjacent zoneICs 120 in a group and between the group of zone ICs 120 and the controlcircuit 110 to form a serial communication chain. The serialcommunication chain may be utilized to facilitate assignment ofaddresses to the zone ICs 120 at startup, may be used to communicatevarious commands to the zone ICs 120, and/or may be used to communicatereadback data from the zone ICs 120 to the control circuit 110. In otherembodiments, some zone ICs 120 (e.g., zone ICs 120 including drivercircuits 150) within a group may be serially connected, while the serialcommunications lines bypass other zone ICs 120 (e.g., sensor circuits160) within the group.

Alternatively, the control circuit 110 may include sets of control linesacross multiple dimensions to facilitate communication of the drivercontrol signals without addresses. Here, a group of zone ICs 120 along afirst dimension (e.g., a row) may be selected based on a first sharedcontrol line coupled to all the zone ICs 120 in the group. Then controlsignals may be communicated in parallel using a set of separate controllines that may be shared between zone ICs 120 along a second dimension(e.g., a column). In some embodiments, a display device 100 may utilizeaddresses for driver circuits 150 but not for sensor circuits 160. Inyet further embodiments, driver circuits 150 may share an address with acorresponding sensor circuit 160 (e.g., an adjacent sensor circuit 160).

Each group of zone ICs 120 may comprise, for example, a row or partialrow of zone ICs 120, a column or partial column of zone ICs 120, a blockof adjacent zone ICs 120, or any arbitrary subset of the zone ICs 120.In some embodiments, each group of zone ICs 120 is of uniform type suchthat, for example, some groups of zone ICs 120 comprise driver circuits150 while other groups of zone ICs 120 comprise sensor circuits 160. Inthis case, the connectivity configurations in the different types ofgroups may be different. Alternatively, a group of zone ICs 120 mayinclude a mixture of zone ICs 120 with sensor circuits 160 (e.g., in theconfiguration of FIG. 1D) and zone ICs with driver circuits 150 (e.g.,in the configuration of FIGS. 1B or 1C). Here, a set of communicationlines may be shared between a set of zone ICs 120 that includes at leastone driver circuit 150 and a least one sensor circuit 160.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a connectivity configuration for adevice array 205 of a display device 200. In this embodiment, the drivercircuits 250 and sensor circuits 260 are arranged in groups (e.g., rows)that share common power supply lines and common communication lines. Inthe illustrated configuration, the driver circuits 250 and sensorcircuits 260 in a group are coupled in parallel to a shared command line265. In an embodiment, the shared command line 265 may comprise a powercommunication line that supplies both power and data to the zone ICs 220as a supply voltage modulated with digital data. Alternatively, theshared command line 265 may comprise a dedicated signal line and powermay be supplied to the driver circuits 250 and sensor circuits 260 via aseparate dedicated supply line (not shown). Serial communication lines255 also couple the driver circuits 250 of a group in series to eachother and to the control circuit 210 to enable communications betweenthe driver circuits 250 and the control circuit 210 via a serialcommunication chain.

In the illustrated embodiment, the driver circuits 250 include an inputpin 254, a power line communication pin 256, one or more output pins258, and a ground pin 252. In an embodiment, the output pins 258 maycomprise a set of multiple pins on each driver circuit 250 to controlmultiple channels of the LED zone 240. For example, the output pins 258may each include 3 pins per driver circuit 250 to control red, green,and blue channels of the LED zones 740.

The ground pin 252 is configured to provide a path to a ground line forthe driver circuit 250. The power line communication input pin 256 isconfigured to receive a power line communication signal from the controlcircuit 210 via the common power communication line 265. The data inputpin 254 and the output pin 258 are coupled to the serial communicationlines 255 to facilitate serial communication to and from the drivercircuits 250. The serial communication lines 255 may be used, forexample, to assign addresses to the driver circuits 250 as describedbelow. The output pin 258 serves a dual-purpose dependent on the mode ofoperation. In an addressing mode, the output pin 258 facilitatescommunications on the serial communication lines 255 as described above.The output pin 258 is also coupled to sink current from a correspondingLED zone 240 to control the driver current during the operational mode.

The sensor circuits 260 include a power line communication pin 266, anoutput pin 268, and a ground pin 262. The ground pin 262 is coupled toground. The power line communication input pin 266 is configured toreceive readback commands from the control circuit 210 via the commonpower communication line 265. The output pin 268 is coupled to a sharedreadback line 225 for providing readback data to the control circuit210.

The serial communication lines 255 may be utilized in the addressingmode to facilitate assignment of addresses to the driver circuits 250.Here, an addressing signal is sent from the control circuit 210 via theserial communication lines 255 to the driver circuit 250-1 in a group.The first driver circuit 250-1 stores an address based on the incomingaddressing signal and generates an outgoing addressing signal foroutputting to the next driver circuit 250-2 via the serial communicationline 255. The second driver circuit 250-2 similarly receives theaddressing signal from the first driver circuit 250-1, stores an addressbased on the incoming addressing signal, and outputs an outgoingaddressing signal to the next driver circuit 250-3. This processcontinues through the chain of driver circuits 250. The addressingprocess may be performed in parallel or sequentially for each group ofdriver circuits 250.

In an example addressing scheme, each driver circuit 250 may receive anaddress, store the address, increment the address by one or by anotherfixed amount, and send the incremented address as an outgoing addressingsignal to the next driver circuit 250 in the group. Alternatively, eachdriver circuit 250 may receive the address of the prior driver circuit250, increment the address, store the incremented address, and send theincremented address to the next driver circuit 250. In otherembodiments, the driver circuit 250 may generate an address based on theincoming address signal according to a different function (e.g.,decrementing).

Once addresses are assigned to the driver circuits 250, an addressingscheme may be used by which the control circuit 210 turns on differentLED zones 240 (via their corresponding driver circuits 250) in adetectable pattern to create local heat, light, or another detectablecondition in an localized area of the device array 205 that can bedetected by one or more sensor circuits 260 proximate to the LED zone240 and/or driver circuit 250. After turning on a selected LED zone 240,the control circuit 210 can issue a power line communication command sothat all the sensor circuits 260 in a group output their sensor data viathe readback line 225. The control circuit 210 can then issue a commandto assign an address to a specific sensor circuit 260 that can bereferenced based on the sensor data value it provided. For example, thecontrol circuit 210 can turn on a specific driver circuit 250, obtaintemperature data from a set of sensor circuits 260, and assign addressesto sensor circuits 260 based on their provided values. If the sensordata is unique for each sensor circuits 260, the control circuit 210 canissue commands associating an assigned address with each sensor value.The sensors 260 can then each recognize the sensor value they eachprovided and store the assigned address.

Alternatively, addresses may be assigned one at a time as drivercircuits 250 are turned on a particular sequence. For example, thecontrol circuit 210 turns on a particular driver circuit 250 and obtainstemperature data from a set of sensors 260. The control circuit 210identifies the highest temperature in the sensor data and assigns anaddress to the sensor circuit 260 providing the highest temperature atthis time step. This process may repeat for different driver circuits210 in different areas of the device array 205. Here, the sensor circuit260 that responds most strongly (e.g., highest temperature value) to aparticular driver circuit 210 turning on is indicative of proximity ofthe sensor circuit 260 to the driver circuit 210 or to the correspondingLED zone 240. The sensor circuit 260 may be assigned an addressassociated with the address of the selected driver circuit 210. Forexample, the sensor circuit 260 may be assigned the same address as theselected driver circuit, or a mapping between the address of the sensorcircuit 260 and the driver circuit 250 may be stored. The proximityinformation enables the control circuit 210 to later detect which drivercircuits 250 and LED zones 240 are associated with the conditions sensedby the sensor circuits 260 so that operation of the driver circuits 250can be calibrated accordingly.

If the control circuit 210 is preprogrammed with information about therelative locations of the sensor circuits 260 and the driver circuits250 within the device array 205, then the control circuit 210 canquickly select the most optimal driver circuits 250 to turn on to detectand assign unique addresses to the sensor circuits 260. For example, thecontrol circuit 210 can turn on the driver circuits 250 that are knownto be most proximate to the sensor circuits 260 and assign addressesaccordingly. However, if the control circuit 210 has no informationabout the relative locations of the sensor circuits 280, the controlcircuit 210 can instead scan across each row (e.g., one driver circuit250 at a time) to determine the sensor circuit 260 that responds moststrongly, indicating proximity to the driver circuit 250 or LED zone240. The control circuit 210 then sends a command assigning a uniqueaddress to the sensor circuit 260 that outputted the sensor valueindicative of proximity. Each sensor circuit 260 can determine whetheror not the command applies to it. The control circuit 210 canfurthermore produce a map of the relative locations of the drivercircuits 250 or LED zones 240 and nearby sensor circuits 260.

In other examples, a similar technique may be used in device arrays ofother devices that are not necessarily driver circuits 250. For example,other types of electronic devices can similarly be configured togenerate a detectable condition such as light, heat, or sound in alocalized portion of the device array 205 to enable assignment of uniqueaddresses to the sensor circuits 260. Addresses can be assigned based onthe relative detection levels in a similar manner as described above.

After addressing, commands may be sent to the driver circuits 250 basedon the addresses. The commands may include dimming commands for drivercircuits 250 to control dimming of corresponding the LED zones 240.Here, the driver circuits 250 receive the dimming data and adjust thedriving currents to the corresponding LED zone 240 to achieve thedesired brightness. Commands may be sent to the driver circuits 250 viathe shared command line 265 or via the serial communication lines 255and serially connected driver circuits 250. If commands are sent via theshared command line 265, the targeted driver circuit 250 having thespecified address processes the command while the other driver circuits250 may ignore the command. If the commands are sent via the serialcommunication lines 255, driver circuits 250 that are not targeted bythe command may propagate the command to an adjacent driver circuit 250via the serial communication lines 255 until it reaches the targeteddriver circuit 250, which processes the command.

The control circuit 210 may also issue readback commands via the sharedcommand line 265 to the sensor circuits 260 to request sensor data. Thefeedback commands may request information such as channel voltageinformation, temperature information, light sensing information, statusinformation, fault information, or other data from sensor circuits 260.In response to these commands, the sensor circuits 260 may obtain thedata from integrated sensors and send the readback data to the controlcircuit 210 via parallel connections to the single wire readback line225. The commands generally specify a targeted sensor circuit 260 (e.g.,by specifying an address). The sensor circuit 260 processes the commandand outputs requested readback data on the single wire readback line225. The other sensor circuits 260 may determine that they are nottargeted by the command and configure their output pin coupled to thesingle wire readback line 225 in a high impedance state so that they donot affect the voltage on the single wire readback line 225. The displaydevice 200 may utilize this communication scheme to detect channelvoltage of corresponding LED zones 240, temperature data, statusinformation, or other data and adjust operation accordingly as describedabove.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of a process for automaticallyassigning addresses to sensor circuits 260. The control circuit 210facilitates 302 assignment of addresses to the driver circuits using anyof the techniques described above. The control circuit 210 then turns on304 a selected LED zone 240 via its corresponding driver circuit 250.The control circuit 210 obtains 306 sensor data from the sensor circuits260. The control circuit 210 then determines 308, based on the sensordata, a sensor circuit 260 that is proximate to the selected LED zone240 (or to the selected driver circuit 250). The control circuit 210assigns 310 an address to the sensor circuit associated with an addressof the selected driver circuit 250. This process may repeat 312 fordifferent driver circuits 250 and corresponding LED zones 240 untiladdresses are assigned to all of the sensor circuits 260.

Additional connectivity configurations for a display device aredescribed in further detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/067,427 filed on Oct. 9, 2020 entitled “Display Device with Feedbackvia Serial Connections Between Distributed Driver Circuits”, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/067,432 filed on Oct. 9, 2020 entitled “DisplayDevice with Feedback via Parallel Connections from Distributed DriverCircuits to a Single Wire Interface”, and U.S. patent application Ser.No. 17/109,066 filed on Dec. 1, 2020 entitled “Display Device withDistributed Arrays of Driver Circuits and Sensors”, which are eachincorporated by reference herein.

FIGS. 4-6 illustrate an example embodiment of an integrated package fora display device 400 that includes an integrated driver circuit 150 andLED zone 140. This architecture enables the driver circuits 150 to bedistributed in the display area of the display device 400 adjacent totheir respective LED zones 140. Other structures such as sensor circuits160 are not shown in FIGS. 4-6 may be similar integrated in a commonpackage together with the driver circuit 150 and LED zone 140.

FIG. 4A is a cross sectional view of a first embodiment of a displaydevice 400 including an integrated LED and driver circuit 405. In theexample shown in FIG. 4A, the circuit 400 includes a printed circuitboard (PCB) 410, a PCB interconnect layer 420, and the integrated LEDand driver circuit 405 which comprises a substrate 430, a driver circuitlayer 440, an interconnect layer 450, a conductive redistribution layer460, and an LED layer 470. Bonded wires 455 may be included forconnections between the PCB interconnect layer 420 and the integratedLED and driver circuit 405. The PCB 410 comprises a support board formounting the integrated LED and driver circuit 405, the control circuit110 and various other supporting electronics. The PCB 410 may includeinternal electrical traces and/or vias that provide electricalconnections between the electronics. A PCB interconnect layer 420 may beformed on a surface of the PCB 410. The PCB interconnect layer 420includes pads for mounting the various electronics and traces forconnecting between them.

The integrated LED and driver circuit 405 includes a substrate 430 thatis mountable on a surface of the PCB interconnect layer 420. Thesubstrate 430 may be, e.g., a silicon (Si) substrate. In otherembodiments, the substrate 430 may include various materials, such asgallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN),AlN, sapphire, silicon carbide (SiC), or the like.

A driver circuit layer 440 may be fabricated on a surface of thesubstrate 430 using silicon transistor processes (e.g., BCD processing)or other transistor processes. The driver circuit layer 440 may includeone or more driver circuits 150 (e.g., a single driver circuit 120 or agroup of driver circuits 150 arranged in an array). An interconnectlayer 450 may be formed on a surface of the driver circuit layer 440.The interconnect layer 450 may include one or more metal or metal alloymaterials, such as Al, Ag, Au, Pt, Ti, Cu, or any combination thereof.The interconnect layer 450 may include electrical traces to electricallyconnect the driver circuits 150 in the driver circuit layer 440 to wirebonds 455, which are in turn connected to the control circuit 110 on thePCB 410. In an embodiment, each wire bond 455 provides an electricalconnection for the various connections described above.

In an embodiment, the interconnect layer 450 is not necessarily distinctfrom the driver circuit layer 440 and these layers 440, 450 may beformed in a single process in which the interconnect layer 450represents a top surface of the driver layer 440.

The conductive redistribution layer 460 may be formed on a surface ofthe interconnect layer 450. The conductive redistribution layer 460 mayinclude a metallic grid made of a conductive material, such as Cu, Ag,Au, Al, or the like. An LED layer 470 includes LEDs that are on asurface of the conductive redistribution layer 460. The LED layer 470may include arrays of LEDs arranged into the LED zones 140 as describedabove. The conductive redistribution layer 460 provides an electricalconnection between the LEDs in the LED layer 470 and the one or moredriver circuits in the driver circuit layer 440 for supplying the drivercurrent and provides a mechanical connection securing the LEDs over thesubstrate 430 such that the LED layer 470 and the conductiveredistribution layer 460 are vertically stacked over the driver circuitlayer 440.

Thus, in the illustrated circuit 400, the one or more driver circuits150 and the LED zones 130 including the LEDs are integrated in a singlepackage including a substrate 430 with the LEDs in an LED layer 470stacked over the driver circuits 150 in the driver circuit layer 440. Bystacking the LED layer 470 over the driver circuit layer 440 in thismanner, the driver circuits 150 can be distributed in the display areaof a display device 100.

FIG. 4B is a cross sectional view of a second embodiment of a displaydevice 480 including an integrated LED and driver circuit 485, accordingto one embodiment. The device 480 is substantially similar to the device400 described in FIG. 4A but utilizes vias 432 and correspondingconnected solder balls 434 to make electrical connections between thedriver circuit layer 440 and the PCB 410 instead of the wires 455. Here,the vias 432 are plated vertical electrical connections that passcompletely through the substrate layer 430. In one embodiment, thesubstrate layer 430 is a Si substrate and the through-chip vias 432 areThrough Silicon Vias (TSVs). The through-chip vias 432 are etched intoand through the substrate layer 430 during fabrication and may be filledwith a metal, such as tungsten (W), copper (C), or other conductivematerial. The solder balls 434 comprise a conductive material thatprovide an electrical and mechanical connection to the plating of thevias 432 and electrical traces on the PCB interconnect layer 420. In oneembodiment, each via 432 provides an electrical connection for providingsignals such as the driver control signal from the control circuit 110on the PCB 410 to a group of driver circuits 150 on the driver circuitlayer 440. The vias 432 may also provide connections for the incomingand outgoing addressing signals, the supply voltage (e.g., VLED) to theLEDs in a LED zone 140 on the LED layer 470, and a path to a circuitground (GND).

FIG. 4C is a cross sectional view of a third embodiment of a displaydevice 490 including an integrated LED and driver circuit 495. Thedevice 490 is substantially similar to the device 480 described in FIG.4B but includes the driver circuit layer 440 and interconnect layer 450on the opposite side of the substrate 430 from the conductiveredistribution layer 460 and the LED layer 470. In this embodiment, theinterconnect layer 450 and the driver circuit layer 440 are electricallyconnected to the PCB 410 via a lower conductive redistribution layer 465and solder balls 434. The lower conductive redistribution layer 465 andsolder balls 434 provide mechanical and electrical connections (e.g.,for the driver control signals) between the driver circuit layer 440 andthe PCB interconnect layer 420. The driver circuit layer 440 andinterconnect layer 450 are electrically connected to the conductiveredistribution layer 460 and the LEDs of the LED layer 470 via one ormore plated vias 432 through the substrate 430. The one or more vias 432seen in FIG. 4C may be utilized to provide the driver currents from thedriver circuits in the driver circuit layer 440 to the LEDs in the LEDlayer 470 and other signals as described above.

In alternative embodiments, the integrated driver and LED circuits 405,485, 495 may be mounted to a different base such as a glass base insteadof the PCB 410.

FIG. 5 is a top down view 500 of a display device using an integratedLED and driver circuit, according to one embodiment. The circuit cancorrespond to a top view of any of the integrated LED and drivercircuits 405, 485, 495 depicted in FIGS. 4A-C. A plurality of LEDs of anLED zone 470 are arranged in rows and columns (e.g., C1, C2, C3, . . .Cn-1, Cn) in FIG. 5. For passive matrix architectures, each row of LEDsis connected by a conductive redistribution layer 460 to a demultiplexerwhich outputs a plurality of VLED signals (i.e., VLED_1 . . . VLED_M).The VLED signals provide power (i.e., a supply voltage) to acorresponding row of LEDs via the conductive redistribution layer 460.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view 600 of several layers of a displaydevice with an integrated LED and driver circuit, according to oneembodiment. The schematic view includes the PCB 410, the driver circuitlayer 440, the conductive redistribution layer 460, and the LED layer470 as described in FIGS. 4A-C. The schematic of FIG. 6 shows circuitconnections for the circuits 405, 485, 495 of FIGS. 4A-C but does notreflect the physical layout. As described above, in the physical layout,the LED layer 470 is positioned on top of (i.e., vertically stackedover) the conductive redistribution layer 460. The conductiveredistribution layer 460 is positioned on top of the driver circuitlayer 440 and the driver circuit layer 440 is positioned on top of thePCB 410.

The PCB 410 includes a connection to a power source supplying power(e.g., VLED) to the LEDs, a control circuit for generating a controlsignal, generic I/O connections, and a ground (GND) connection. Thedriver circuit layer 440 includes a plurality of driver circuits (e.g.,DC1, DC2, DCn) and a demultiplexer DeMux. The conductive redistributionlayer 460 provides electrical connections between the driver circuitsand the demultiplexer DeMux in the driver circuit layer 440 to theplurality of LEDs in the LED layer 470. The LED layer 470 includes aplurality of LEDs arranged in rows and columns. In this exampleimplementation, each column of LEDs is electrically connected via theconductive redistribution layer 460 to one driver circuit in the drivercircuit layer 440. The electrical connection established between eachdriver circuit and its respective column of LEDs controls the supply ofdriver current from the driver circuit to the column. In this embodimenteach diode shown in the LED layer corresponds to an LED zone. Each rowof LEDs is electrically connected via the conductive redistributionlayer 460 to one output (e.g., VLED_1, VLED_2, . . . VLED_M) of thedemultiplexer DeMux in the driver circuit layer 440. The demultiplexerDeMux in the driver circuit layer 440 is connected to a power supply(VLED) and a control signal from the PCB 410. The control signalinstructs the demultiplexer DeMux which row or rows of LEDs are to beenabled and supplied with power using the VLED lines. Thus, a particularLED in the LED layer 470 is activated when power (VLED) is supplied onits associated row and the driver current is supplied to its associatedcolumn.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative embodiments through the disclosedprinciples herein. Thus, while particular embodiments and applicationshave been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that thedisclosed embodiments are not limited to the precise construction andcomponents disclosed herein. Various modifications, changes andvariations, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, may bemade in the arrangement, operation and details of the method andapparatus disclosed herein without departing from the scope describedherein.

1. A method for assigning addresses to sensor circuits distributed in adisplay area of a display device, the method comprising: turning on aselected driver circuit to drive an LED zone in the display area;obtaining sensor data from the sensor circuits representing a sensedcondition associated with the LED zone; determining, based on the sensordata, a sensor value associated with a proximate sensor circuit that isproximate to the LED zone being driven by the selected driver circuit;and assigning an address to the proximate sensor circuit associated withan address of the selected driver circuit.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: during an addressing mode, sending, by the controlcircuit, an addressing signal to a first driver circuit of a group ofdriver circuits coupled in a serial communication chain; propagating theaddressing signal through the serial communication chain to facilitateassignment of addresses to the driver circuits.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein turning on the selected driver circuit comprises: sending acommand on a shared communication line coupled to the group of drivercircuits, the command referencing an address of the selected drivercircuit.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the sensor datacomprises: reading the sensor data from a shared readback line coupledin parallel to each of the sensor circuits.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein assigning the address comprises: sending a command via a sharedcommunication line coupled to the sensor circuits, the commandspecifying the address for assigning to the proximate sensor circuit andidentifying the proximate sensor circuit by the sensor value provided bythe proximate sensor circuit.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving operational sensor data from the proximate sensorcircuit via a readback line during an operational mode of the displaydevice; and calibrating operation of the selected driver circuit basedon the operational sensor data.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thesensor circuits comprise temperature sensing circuits that detect heatgenerated by the selected driver circuit.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the sensor circuit comprise light sensing circuits that detectlight generating by the LED zone.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thesensor circuit comprise audio sensing circuits that detect soundgenerating by an audio transducer proximate to the LED zone.
 10. Adisplay device comprising: a group of light emitting diode zones eachcomprising one or more light emitting diodes; a group of drivercircuits, the group of driver circuits for driving the group of lightemitting diode zones; a group of sensor circuits distributed in thedisplay area of the display device; and a control circuit to facilitateassignment of addresses to the group of sensor circuits during anaddressing mode, the control circuit to turn on a selected drivercircuit to drive a corresponding LED zone, obtain sensor data from thegroup of sensor circuits, the sensor data representing a sensedcondition associated with the LED zone, determine, based on the sensordata, a sensor value associated with a proximate sensor circuit that isproximate to the LED zone turned on by the selected driver circuit, andassign an address to the proximate sensor circuit associated with anaddress of the selected driver circuit.
 11. The display device of claim10, further comprising: serial communication lines serially coupling thegroup of driver circuits to each other and to the control circuit in aserial communication chain, wherein the control circuit and the group ofdriver circuits are configured to propagate addressing signals throughthe serial communication chain to facilitate assignment of addresses tothe driver circuits during the addressing mode.
 12. The display deviceof claim 11, further comprising: a shared communication line coupled tothe group of driver circuits in parallel, wherein the control circuitturns on the selected driver circuit by sending a command on the sharedcommunication referencing an address of the selected driver circuit. 13.The display device of claim 10, further comprising: a readback linehaving parallel connections to the group of sensor circuits and coupledto the control circuit, wherein the sensor circuits are configured tosend the sensor data via the shared readback line.
 14. The displaydevice of claim 10, wherein the control circuit assigns the address bysending a command via a shared communication line coupled to the sensorcircuits, the command specifying the address to be assigned to theproximate sensor circuit and identifying the proximate sensor circuit bythe sensor value provided by the proximate sensor circuit.
 15. Thedisplay device of claim 10, wherein the control circuit is furtherconfigured to receive operational sensor data from the proximate sensorcircuit via a readback line during an operational mode of the displaydevice, and calibrate operation of the selected driver circuit based onthe operational sensor data.
 16. The display device of claim 10, whereinthe sensor circuits comprise temperature sensing circuits that detectheat generated by the selected driver circuit.
 17. The display device ofclaim 10, wherein the sensor circuit comprise light sensing circuitsthat detect light generating by the LED zone.
 18. The display device ofclaim 10, wherein the sensor circuit comprise audio sensing circuitsthat detect sound generating by an audio transducer proximate to the LEDzone.
 19. A display device comprising: a group of drivers for driving agroup of light emitting diode zones; and a control circuit to facilitateassignment of addresses to a group of sensor circuits distributed in thedisplay area during an addressing mode, the control circuit to turn on aselected driver to drive a corresponding LED zone, obtain sensor datafrom the group of sensor circuits, the sensor data representing a sensedcondition associated with the LED zone, determine, based on the sensordata, a sensor value associated with a proximate sensor circuit that isproximate to the LED zone turned on by the selected driver circuit, andassign an address to the proximate sensor circuit associated with anaddress of the selected driver circuit.
 20. The display device of claim19, wherein the sensor circuits comprise at least one of temperaturesensing circuits, light sensing circuits, and audio sensing circuits.